Some consumers order products or services through the internet because it is convenient and it saves time as opposed to traveling to and from a store. Other consumers may find the selection is more abundant at an internet site since a site may carry numerous brands and varieties of a single product, such as a shoe, whereas a store may be limited due to space availability or costs associated with having a large inventory of products.
Further, merchants may find advertising on the internet to be advantageous because its low cost relative to advertisements on other media, such as radio, television, or printed ads. Advertisements on the internet also have the ability to reach many more consumers than traditional advertisements.
However, when a consumer decides to place an order for a product or service, the consumer may encounter several obstacles that may discourage the consumer from proceeding, thereby negating any benefits from advertising on the internet. A typical obstacle is that the product or service is not available. The problem may be exacerbated if the consumer spent considerable time reading through the advertisements and compared the selected product or service against other products or services only to find out in the end it was for naught. Moreover, the ordering process may be lengthy, such as inputting personal information or payment information, and only upon getting to the end is the consumer notified the selected item is unavailable. Such problems may lead to a lost sale even if the item is made available to the customer at a later date. In a more unfortunate event, such problems may lead to a lost customer if the customer chooses not to visit such an unreliable site. Hence, an improved process for ordering products or services may alleviate the above problems.
Another use of the internet is to gather information. Although the Internet usually allows consumers access to a wealth of information concerning products or services they are considering purchasing, the reverse is often not as easy. For example, while many Internet commerce sites allow consumers to provide their reviews of a given product or service, a small percentage of consumers may actually do so. Moreover, once the reviews are given, sites normally do little, if anything, to analyze the reviews to improve their products or services in a meaningful manner to adequately conform to the suggestions in the reviews. Further, since reviews typically represent a small percentage of consumers, relying upon reviews to obtain information from consumers in general, even if products or services may be altered to conform to the reviews, may be inadequate or may not represent the majority of consumers.
Because merchants and manufacturers typically lack sufficient information about consumers' opinions, it may be difficult not only to know what consumers thought about products already purchased in the past, but it may also be difficult to gauge consumers' future interest. Even if reviews are utilized as a basis for gauging consumers' interest, future interest may also not be accurately predicted because a consumer's future purchases may not be related to past purchases for a variety of reasons, such as a change in taste by the consumer. Hence, systems, if any, that utilize reviews as a basis for gauging consumers' future interest may be flawed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,963,848 seems to relate to encouraging consumers to submit reviews and, based on the received reviews, recommendations may be made.
Additionally, even if a consumer is interested in a product and this interest may be somehow calculated, websites often lack the ability to follow-through with the consumer to encourage the consumer to purchase a product or service. In a traditional brick and mortar store, a sales person may be available to observe an interested customer and assist the customers with samples or answer any questions. Commerce sites typically lack the salesperson to observe any interested customers or to follow-through with them.
Moreover, the types of products or services commonly available to consumers are often for those that are currently available or those that are already in production and are committed by manufacturers, such as being in the front stages of production, to be made available in the near future. Consumers are usually not solicited for purchase of products or services that are conceptual in nature or are in the beginning stages of production.
This is because a product supplier may find it cost prohibitive to make products in accordance with consumer interest, particular since interest can vary from consumer to consumer. Also, a product supplier may have long lead times associated with products and gauging consumer interest one year may not be helpful in 6 months to 1 year, which are common and times for companies importing goods from overseas. This problem may be exacerbated when fashion trends are shorter than lead times. In some cases, a product supplier may provide a product or service in accordance with measured customer interest but such cost associated with the product or service is normally higher. Hence, the customer or the product supplier may need to bear the higher cost. Further, this arrangement normally requires a commitment from both the customer and the supplier, either in the form of a deposit or contract.
What is desired, therefore, is an improved ordering process. Another desire is a system that streamlines the ordering process. A further desire is a system that streamlines the amount of advertisements a customer sees. Yet another desire is a program that permits consumers to order products that are not yet available, or may not ever be available to the general public or preferred customers. Still another desire is a program that permits consumers to order specialized products with minimized obligation to the consumer and minimized risk of loss to the product supplier. A further desire is a program that permits consumers to customize their specialized products at the time of the order. Yet another desire is a program that forecasts consumer interest so that a product supplier can meet future demand and maximize profits by providing products that are believed to be of interest to the consumers based on the forecasted consumer interest. Still a further desire is a program that identifies interested consumers to a product supplier so that the product supplier may contact the interested consumers with further information.